Last week saw the start of my summer mini-tour (no minis were harmed or even used in the creation of this blog). .. On Saturday 15th June I took an early train oop north to sunny Doncaster, for the inaugural Doncaster Steampunk weekender. It may have been the first – but it certainly shouldn't be the last. Craig Hallam (who guest-blogged here a couple of weeks ago), Tony and Candice must all be congratulated for putting on a most excellent first event. Tea was duelled with; mead was dropped from a great height (accidentally, unfortunately), traders traded and authors authed (remember where you heard this word first). Even the local Mayor came along and bought a book. Judging by the amount of non-steampunk people who also came along and were most intrigued, next year's event should be bigger still. Trains did not permit me to stay around for the Saturday evening entertainment, unfortunately, but by all reports BB Blackdog and Montague Jacques Fromage aquitted themselves with their usual aplomb.

No sooner back in B'ham than I was off again – this time darn sarf (down south) to Reading, where on Tuesday 18th I was a guest on Steven C. Davis's CPR radio show on Reading4u.co.uk community radio (Steven also recently guest-blogged here). This was my first time on live radio, and was due to last a whole 2 hours, so I was a little nervous, but Steven was very professional*, and I soon got into the swing of rummaging for CDs, replying to posts on the facebook event for the show, and actually talking on air in words that more or less made sense (maybe not the cardboard shield bit). It was great to see so many people joining in on the event, including listeners from the United Stated as well – you know who you are, thanks for listening! (incidentally, 'Brum' is an abbreviation of 'Brummagem', and is a colloquial name for Birmingham that dates back to medieval times, apparently! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brummagem). For those who missed the show, Steven promises that a recording will be available very soon if you have a hankering to hear my dulcet tones...

4 authors at Oxfam Books Reading

Still in Reading on Wednesday 19th, for the science fiction authors event at the Reading Oxfam Bookshop. A reading in Reading, whatever next? This was once again organised by Steven C. Davis, who was also one of the four authors reading – Steven writes science fiction as well as presenting radio shows, and you can find out more at www.tenebroustexts.com. A hot and muggy day in Reading led to a reduced turnout for the event, but it was good to be able to do a reading and chat with attendees afterwards; and better still to meet up with an old schoolfriend who I hadn't seen for a very long time...As a result of these events, all sorts of new ideas for things are now germinating.... keep watching this space! This week also marks the end of a chapter for me in my personal life, one that has been on the cards for quite some time; and I greet it with a mixture of relief coloured with some sadness. You may or may not be interested to know that the Crimson Clocks tune Limbo (video below!) was inspired by this particular situation. Now the times, they are a-changing, and 2013 will certainly not close for me in the same way that it started; so just to prove that while everything is different, it is still the same, this Saturday sees yet another event. This time I'm singing with Crimson Clocks at Matlock Bath in the Second Annual Steampunk Summer Solstice. Limbo will still be in the set – but we've also got some new tunes to share... hope to see some of you there! Until next time, that's all, folks! *This may make him laugh if he reads it

Next week sees me traveling to Reading to guest on the Contemporary Progressive Rock radio show, followed by an appearance at the Oxfam book shop with three other science fiction writers. Later in the year, I'll be back at Reading with Crimson Clocks to perform in the town's first ever steampunk festival, Raising Steam. The man responsible for these events is Reading writer and DJ, Steven C. Davis. Here he explains how he got into radio, how Raising Steam came about, and what it's all in aid of...

I’ve got a busy few days and months coming up ... On Tuesday 18th June I’ll be joined by LM Cooke on my CPR radio show. A colleague from the Oxfam Bookshop in Reading invited me on her radio show to discuss my debut novel, ‘Cornix Sinistra’, an apocalyptic science fiction novel set in an alternate Reading. A few months after that I started the Contemporary Progressive Rock Show (Tuesdays, 10-midnight, only on www.reading4u.co.uk). My intention was to play the classic sounds of 70s progressive rock, but it soon shifted into a lot more contemporary sounds. You can join the facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/462404817170453/ On Wednesday 19th June the Oxfam Bookshop in Reading (RG1 2EA) is holding a science fiction authors event, featuring (strangely enough), LM Cooke and myself, in addition to Thomas Shepherd and Christine Davidson. The four of us will be reading excerpts from our novels (between us we have 7 novels published). In the last 6 years or so the Oxfam Bookshop has built up quite a reputation amongst fans of SF – it now stocks over 1,000 books and has had well known figures in such as Brian Stableford, Dave Langford, Frances Hardinge and Jaine Fenn. You can join the facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/166827240147944/ and the bookshop’s address is here: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops/oxfam-bookshop-reading

On September 21st and 22nd, two halls in Reading play host to Raising Steam, a one-off 2 day Steampunk music festival. Raising funds for New Futures Nepal, my hope for Raising Steam is that it will be an opportunity and a showcase for up and coming home grown Steampunk bands. Since Hallowsteam in Birmingham last year I’ve been a fan of Metropolis, Crimson Clocks, Gladstone and Birthrite (and Seas of Mirth and BB Black Dog and ...) and this seemed like an opportunity worth pursuing. Pretty soon Tom Slatter and Miss Von Trapp were on the bill and I quickly realised a new, bigger, hall was needed. After some scouting around, not one but two halls were found ... and The Mysterious Freakshow and Thy Last Drop were added to the bill ... and Oxford’s finest The Mechanisms were secured to headline the Sunday.

Another intention – and one I’ve already seen happening – is for Steampunk bands to discover each other – the, ‘together we’re stronger’, motif in action. Even if it is only ‘liking’ a band’s facebook page, it’s a start.

A possible MC for the event, Jane Setter (of progressive rock band Crimson Sky) was approached – although Reading has a Steampunk group, there are no Steampunk music groups that I’m aware of – so I wanted a local MC. Fortunately, she was delighted to be asked and not only brought along a co-host, Rob Ramsay (of progressive rock band Tinyfish) but also another band, Helicopter Quartet.

So far, so good. 10/12 bands confirmed ... and then I got a Facebook message from Montague Jacques Fromage ... enquiring whether I was promoting Raising Steam ... he really wanted to be a part of it ... and then there were 11/12 bands!

But just time to pull back a little ... way back in 2000 I met a Nepalese man who was doing all he could to look after orphaned, disabled and abandoned children he found in the mountains of Nepal whilst acting as a trek leader. He set up the home and the charity which became NFN and in the ten years or so of existence, they’ve provided a home, security, comfort and education to over forty children and young adults who, without them, would likely have ended up being sold as child labour or into the sex trade. The eldest children have now left the home and have been able to get paid jobs and find homes which, without NFN, they would not have had the chance to.

This Saturday, 15th June, I'll be in Doncaster, guesting as part of the literary event at the steampunk weekend. Craig Hallam is the man responsible for author wrangling at the event - as a special guest on this week's blog he talks about his writing, and the upcoming event. Take it away, Craig...

I’ve had a lot of very good luck over the last year. Not only have I been accepted by a fantastic indie publisher and my first novel unleashed upon the world but, since discovering Steampunk, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of lovely people. It all started for me with a mistake. That mistake was thinking that I was being original and awesome by encorporating what I then called “victoriany pseudo-tech” to my debut novel, Greaveburn. From professor Loosestrife’s prosthetic arm to General Leager’s life support cubicle which hisses and puffs its way through Greaveburn’s Gothic backdrop, I thought it was a great new idea. And then someone put me properly in my palce by pointing out that what I had written was a Gothic Fantasy (as intended) with hints of this cool genre known as Steampunk (of which I was totally oblivious). With a brain like mine, I wasn’t disheartened by the idea but spurred on and I began to ingest Steampunk at an exponential rate. And I was absolutely hooked. This was solidified by my attendance to the Asylum convention in Lincoln (which also happened to be my first book signing, too) where I saw what was inside my head come to life for the very first time. I was surrounded by an unbelievable amount of creativity and enthusiasm from costumes to gadgets and other writers and artists. I could have died happy at that very moment. But luckily, I didn’t. Instead I came away even more certain that Steampunk, while birthed in the past, would be a large part of my future. But other than the brilliantly brassy, clockworky, steamy aesthetic and creativity that the genre inspires, the genre’s philosophy really sold it to me. The politeness, the sharing and lack of elitism, the friendly attitudes of everyone you meet. Meeting a new Steampunk in the street is a lot like meeting an old friend that you don’t even realise that you miss until that very moment. It’s a beautiful thing. And so, when Steampunk Doncaster organisers Candice and Tony asked me to get involved with organising a festival in my home town of Doncaster, I must have seemed quite manic as I screamed “Of course, by Jove!” and shook their hands off. Thus began another great experience. I’ve had the utmost pleasure and honour of organising Steampunk Doncaster’s “Litarium” in which authors, poets and wordsmiths come together to share their work, teach what they know to others, and generally have a great time. And it’s almost upon us! On the 15th and 16th of June, in Doncaster’s Deaf Trust building, Steampunk Doncaster’s first convention will kick off for two days of Steampunk awesomeness. I’ll be there with eminent author Jonathan Green as well as a stack of up-and-coming new talent such as Meg Kingston, Rod Gilles and of course L.M. Cooke. There will be art instillations with images and sculptures, a market to get even more cool stuff for your next outfit, as well as table top games, the expertise of Ruud De Kort (a photographer and his models coming all the way from the Netherlands just for the event), movies, and enough tea to drown yourselves in. I’m excited about it, and I hope I’ve rubbed off a little of that on you too. I certainly hope to see you there to make the first Steampunk Doncaster convention go off with a neutron explosion. Thanks for reading! Find Craig here: Twitter: @craighallam84 Facebook: www.facebook.com/craighallamauthor Blog: www.craighallam.wordpress.com

Author

I'm a writer of steampunk/ fantasy fiction, singer/musician and writer at LM Cooke Music, singer in the parody band Mediaeval Biaetches, occasional historian, and co-presenter of the Gothic Alternative Steampunk and Progressive web radio show. Here I will ramble vaguely about stuff. Friends, countrymen, and people who aren't countrymen, lend me your ears...